By Michael Lotspeich
LOUISVILLE — In both rain and shine, buses are filing into the Kentucky Exposition Center for the 87th National FFA Convention & Expo. Today, Tuesday, marks the first day of convention registration as chapters from across the nation pick up their name badges and guidebooks.
This year’s convention theme — “Go All Out!”— asks members to take action, give their all, and put everything they have into everything they do.
“We’re crazy excited,” Cinnamon Jawor, director of convention services for the Greater Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau, said. “The city still remembers seven years ago [from 1999 to 2005] when we had the opportunity to host the National FFA Convention; while it was in Indianapolis, we had been begging them to come back. These events are like our super-bowl!”
Convention events will take place primarily at KEC and also downtown at the Kentucky International Convention Center and KFC Yum! Center.
Outside of the National FFA Organization’s happenings, FFA members are visiting such attractions as the Louisville Mega Cavern, Slugger Museum & Factory, Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum.
In a remark to The Lane Report, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer was ecstatic about what FFA members bring to the area. “This is a gathering of more than 60,000 of our future leaders, young people who will shape the kind of society we will be — the entrepreneurs, the problem solvers, the care givers and educators.”
Strong leadership and agriculture interests culminate at the convention with delegate sessions and the election of the National FFA Officers.
National FFA Organization Blog 